quote:
Ridley needs to shut up, because its not his place to be calling out a teammate 2 weeks into the season publicly. Sorry if some of you like this, but as a former coach, I'd bench a player for openly talking negatively like this about another teammate. He didn't need to bring up the hardER working shite

As a former coach of seven year olds who went 1 and 5 (I had two great assistants who I had taught years before), my opinion means absolutely nothing here; however, I didn't see this as dissenion on the team or calling somebody out. I do agree with a previous poster that it is hard to tell from the article how, where, or when the comment was made. The comment is clear, but the context may not be.

He certainly could have left the comments to himself, but they don't seem inflammatory. It does bring up something, though, that I have often thought but seldom see on this board. The coaches see these people every day, and your work ethic shines through. I don't believe Ford's work ethic or his ability are poor after watching some of the spring game. I think his chance will come, like Coach Miles said, down, distance, and circumstance will manifest themselves. And in that peculiar set of events, Ford will rise to the occasion.

This can be a Pollyanna view, especially on this board, but I believe all things work toward the good. Patience is not usually a strong facet of a young player's personality. I would want to play, too. Who wants to practice incessantly and never touch the ball or set foot on the field?

I wsas more impressed by what Ridley said about reinforcing Alfred Blue's success and minimizing his mistakes. I may be wrong, but I think a business, a school, and even a football team tend to mirror a boss or a coach's personality. I sometimes think we make too much of overt comments as a means to determine leadership. I think a group will always have at least one leader. It's the function of personality, and how people rise to an occasion. Quiet leaders or vocal leaders are still leaders, but do they lead by example? Out of 100 players, you have 100 hundred personalities, assuming of course that no one has that rare multiple personality disorder. God forbid that we have a "Sybil" on the team unless that player is channeling Gale Sayers or Dick Butkus or Jack Tatum.

I feel good about the team, and I kind of likes what he said.